Corporate Training Materials

Great companies value employee training and development. Take your team to the next level with corporate training materials that will improve vital business skills like communication and negotiation.

6
nov
2

Breakthrough Creativity and Mission Statements

Posted by Corporate Team Building Games, Corporate Training Materials, Experiential Learning Activities, HR Training, Human Resource Training, Team Building ExercisesNo Comments

By Lynne Levesque

Recently, I facilitated a Breakthrough Creativity session for a department within a consumer products company.  The objectives of the session were several:  to introduce the participants to the Breakthrough Creativity concepts, to improve the functioning of the team, and to draft a mission statement for the department.  Prior to the session, participants completed the Breakthrough Creativity Profile, reviewed their results in the Breakthrough Creativity Participant Guide, read some material I had prepared on mission statements, and were asked to come up with at least one possible mission statement for the Department.

The first hour of the morning was spent reviewing the results of the Breakthrough Creativity Profile. Since the participants had all read the material in the Participant Guide beforehand, they were familiar with the talents and their own profiles.  In addition to going over all the talents so everyone was familiar with all eight- not just their own, we were also able to spend a few minutes integrating the results of the Profile with those of the Predictive Index which all of the participants had taken within the past several years.  In the second half of the morning, we discussed the results of their Team Profile which I had been able to generate prior to our session.

Over lunch we completed the final agenda item of the day: working on the department’s Mission Statement.  Much to everyone’s surprise we were able to come to agreement on a pretty final version.

The session proved to be a smashing success!  The department’s HR rep also attended the workshop as an observer.  At the end of our time together, she commented on how well the session had gone and how much everyone had participated (which had not been necessarily expected, given some of the personalities in the room).  When my client, the head of the department, commented on how pleased she was with the mission statement draft, the HR rep remarked that she didn’t think it would have been such a successful day without the morning session on the Breakthrough Creativity framework.

We talked about why she thought that was so and came up with the following answers:

  1. The Breakthrough Creativity Profile work helped build more self-awareness.
  2. The Department Head was very open with sharing her results and thus set the stage for the rest of the participants to feel comfortable sharing.
  3. The Team Profile really opened up the conversation.  We not only discussed the actual results but also diverged into other relevant topics.   The open and honest discussion that ensued addressed some issues that were critical to the team’s performance.
  4. There was a lot of laughter during the conversations in the morning which probably added to the success of the session.  The hormones released through laughter loosened everyone up and allowed for even more creative thinking.
  5. Although not everyone had been willing or eager to contribute in the first couple of hours of the session, by the time we got to lunch everyone was pretty relaxed and fully engaged.
  6. The Breakthrough Creativity framework, the talents, and the team profile all seemed to oil the hinges and allow ideas to flow, camaraderie to be heightened, and creative juices to run!

What has been your experience with mission statement exercises?  Have they been as successful as this one was?

headshot-llevesque_200Dr. Lynne Levesque is a leadership and creativity consultant based in Boston, Massachusetts. Prior to launching her consulting and training practice, she was a vice president at Bank of America.  She is the author of Breakthrough Creativity: Achieving Top Performance Using the Eight Creative Talents and the Breakthrough Creativity Profile, as well as several cases and articles. Lynne holds a B.A. from Mount Holyoke College, an M.B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley, and an Ed.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Lynne will be hosting a free webinar for HRDQ-U on November 11th at 2PM ET. Register here to reserve your spot today.

22
oct
0

Managing Accountability: Expecting and Getting Top Performance

Posted by Communication Styles, Corporate Training MaterialsNo Comments

Rick Lepsinger and HRDQ-U recently hosted a free webinar entitled, Managing Accountability: Expecting and Getting Top Performance.  A virtual team expert with more than 30 years experience and a proven track record as a human resource consultant and executive, Lepsinger is the president of OnPoint Consulting. He is the co-author of several books on leadership and organizational effectiveness, including Closing the Execution Gap: How Great Leaders and Their Companies Get Results and Virtual Team Success: A Practical Guide for Working and Leading from a Distance. Lepsinger currently sits on the faculty of GE’s Management Development Course (MDC) and leads the program, Making GE’s Global Matrix Work.

Over 640 people registered to listen to the webinar live. Missed it? Click here now!

“One of the best HRDQ webinars I have attended!  Thank you for the actionable, crisply delivered info.”

“Fast paced but excellent information and knowledgeable presenter.  I wouldn’t change anything.”

“This one was really good! Had great background information, applicable guidelines and options that can be implemented now.”

“Great seminar and Rick did a wonderful job going through his material, keeping it interactive, and finishing up with plenty of time for questions”

“Content was clear and easy to understand. The practice exercises helped to demonstrate application.  THANK YOU!”

Your organization’s ability to manage accountability is key to its success. Among top-performing organizations, 77 percent of leaders reported employees of all levels are held accountable for results. Only 44 percent of leaders said this was true at less successful organizations.

The objectives for the webinar were as follows:

  • Define accountability and learn how to recognize and measure it
  • Understand the factors that impact individual accountability
  • Enhance people’s willingness to take accountability and responsibility for results

Look familiar? So what is accountability?

  • We take initiative
  • We accept responsibility for our actions
  • We accept responsibility for how our actions impact others
  • We admit when we make mistakes
  • No excuses. No blaming

In the webinar, we reviewed several case studies. To learn more about them, click here to watch the recorded session.

There are five leadership practices that enable people to meet high expectations:

  1. Enhance and maintain employee self-esteem
  2. Set challenging goals
  3. Create a supportive environment
  4. Catch people doing something right
  5. Provide constructive feedback

There are Four “Accountability Busters”. They are:

  • Talking about an idea, but not agreeing to actions and accountability by people’s names, and people thus assuming someone else is going to do the work
  • Agreeing on an action, but without any discussion of a completion date, so the end date is open to interpretation and differing opinions
  • Waiting until the completion date to check on the results, or not even checking in at all
  • Not holding people accountable for missed commitments after the fact

Lastly, here is a list of Tips and Best Practices:

  • Be a role model by holding yourself accountable
  • Evaluate the level of accountability of your direct reports; identify probable causes and actions for increasing accountability
  • Enable honest communications about problems without fear of reprisal
  • Use action plans to document commitments
  • Coach people to ask themselves three accountability questions
  • Encourage a “What else can I do to achieve the results that I want” attitude

For a limited time, all participants of the webinar can get a discount on The Accountability Experience training. It is a detailed, step-by-step guide for planning and delivering a powerful learning experience that builds individual accountability. It includes a flash drive containing a PowerPoint slide deck with embedded video clips.

Sign up today to make sure you don’t miss the next free webinar!

8
sep
0

Chart Your Course

Posted by Coaching Skills, Corporate Team Building Games, Corporate Training Materials, Emotional Intelligence Assessment, Experiential Learning Activities, HR Training, Human Resource Training, Leadership Games, Leadership Style Assessment, Supervisory Skills, Team Building Exercises, Teamwork GamesNo Comments

Do you remember what your dreams were as a child? Have you lived a fulfilled life? Have you reached your goals? Or did you get sidetracked along the way?

A great way to revisit these dreams can be found in resting your mind, forgetting for a while about the bills, the relationships, the money and all of the worries you may be having as an adult. Journal some thoughts about what it was like to be a child again. Go back to a time that is still vivid in your mind and relive it. See what you saw, hear what you heard, feel what you felt. Get back in touch with that imagination that seems to have escaped you. I will share a snapshot of a very memorable day in my life.

Remembering the first time that I went fishing with my father, I still feel the cold morning fog against my face as we rowed to the mooring where the Seabird was moored. The seat was wet in the skiff and I was shivering. The smell of the salt air was fresh in my nostrils and my Dad was sitting next to me as his crewman rowed towards the boat.

The morning started with a pancake breakfast at the Chuck Wagon restaurant. All of the fishermen were there and they were giving me a fisherman’s welcome. I was all of 8 years old and this was a big day. It was my turn to go with my dad. I remember being very happy and very excited.

It was all so foreign to me and so adventurous. The Seabird was a 40-foot wood salmon troller and my Dad also fished for tuna and crab. Today we would be chasing salmon.

I remember the roll of the boat and the smell of the diesel stove in the galley. I can still see my first caught salmon lying on the deck. I remember how proud I was that I did not get sick that day. I remember walking back to his truck to go home and how I felt as if I was still on the boat, swaying back and forth as I walked.

I always dreamed about being the captain someday…

That was a special day that is blazed into my mind. We all have memories of our childhood that are stored into the hard drives of our mind. Buried so deep that we may have to dig deep to get them to come back.

For years I spent my life as a fisherman and a captain. For years, I felt that I would die of old age as a fisherman, that this is all there was.

Then, there was one defining moment in my life to make me realize that this was not my path.

What is your defining moment? Maybe it has not occurred yet. If it has, when are you going to make the move towards your dreams?

It is up to you, but it takes action. You need to implement. You need to get from point A to point B. You need to chart your course and throw the lines from the pier.

Tap into your inner child and imagine a different life, a bigger game. Let your imagination go. We all have that tugging notion that there is more to life. The truth is we already know what to do. It is those who plan, prepare and set sail that will live a life of fullness and happiness.

James Evanow

4e7f064220ab8d0da94720c8efa166e9_headshot-jevanow_100-200-cJames Evanow is an international speaker, author, coach, and a serial entrepreneur. What sets him apart is his 23 year journey as a sea captain. His passion for helping people inspired him to write his first book, Wisdom From the Sea, which chronicles his tales of adventure at sea in the context of leadership. James has had diverse experience in the business world. He is a certified Life Coach, and has trained as Personal Empowerment Coach under the Tony Robbins coaching program, “Strategic Intervention.” He has traveled through out the United States and Canada, conducting trainings on Emotional Intelligence and Creative Leadership in over 40 cities. His flag ship program, “Chart Your Course,” is an all-encompassing training to break destructive patterns that limit your growth in business, and in life. James knows that the slightest deviation can take you off course and prevent you from reaching your goals and destination.

James and HRDQ-U are hosting a free webinar on September 16th at 2pm. Sign up for it now!

4
jun
0

ACT to Lead Others Through Change

Posted by Coaching Skills, Corporate Training Materials, Emotional Intelligence Assessment, Experiential Learning Activities, HR Training, Human Resource Training, Leadership Games, Leadership Style Assessment, Supervisory SkillsNo Comments

Yesterday, Diana Durek and HRDQ-U hosted a free webinar entitled, Leading Others Through Change. Durek is a leadership development specialist with an emphasis on emotional intelligence and personal change. She spent 11 years with a leading, global psychological test publisher. There, she worked with clients as diverse as the U.S. Air Force, American Express, and Air Canada, building evidence-based models for predicting individual and organizational performance. Durek holds an M.S. in Organization Development from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University.

Over 770 people registered to participate in this webinar. If you missed it, click here.

“This was a very good webinar – very interactive with a LOT of good, useable information.”

” I enjoyed the interactivity and felt this was a very great webinar experience!”

Change is here to stay. That’s probably no secret to you. For years, we have all heard that the “only constant is change.” Change is present in every aspect of your life and has become the norm in all organizations. The frequency and pace at which leaders must ask employees to change course or adapt to new systems and initiatives continues to accelerate.

The agenda for the session was as follows:

  • Understand why change initiatives fail and how to ensure their success.
  • Implement a framework to actively lead change efforts.
  • Plan for the success of future change through close evaluation of the current initiative.

The session started with an audience poll. “What are your views about change?”

Some of the replies were: uncertainty, newness, learning experience, skeptical, fear, opportunities, transition, and resistance.

We all tend to say that we do not like change, but that is not entirely true. If people really disliked change, they would never marry, have children, move to a new home, start a new job and so on. So, as scary as change may be, it is inevitable and we have to change the ways our brains are wired to accept that fact.

So what often causes change efforts to fail?change 2

  • Need for change is unclear
  • Complacency overcomes urgency
  • Resistance is unexpected and mismanaged
  • Communication is limited
  • Lack of commitment throughout the organization
  • Lack of accurate and comprehensive information

What helps change efforts to succeed?

  • Clear vision
  • Leadership support and involvement
  • Employee contribution and buy-in
  • Accountability
  • Alignment with organizational goals/values
  • Excellent communication

With all that in mind, you need to learn how to ACT.

Activate the Change     Create a Plan     Transition the Change

When you ACT to lead through change, you clarify and align the vision and goals, determine readiness, establish a sense of urgency and establish a communication plan.

For a deeper understanding into change and the Three-Phase Model for success, click here. In viewing the recorded webinar, you will get much more detail into the emotional brain, resistance to change, and how to gather and analyze data.

Leading Others Through Change  is available as classroom training program, and as a self-study e-learning program. It is part of the Reproducible Training Library, a full suite of unlimited-use content that’s downloadable, customizable, and reproducible. Easy to edit in both Microsoft Word and PowerPoint files, this training solution is an affordable, one-time purchase and yours to reproduce as needed. There is also a discount on this program for all attendees of the webinar!

Sign up today to make sure you don’t miss the next free webinar!

2
apr
0

Increasing Your Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace and Beyond

Posted by Corporate Training Materials, Emotional Intelligence Assessment, Experiential Learning Activities, HR Training, Human Resource Training, Leadership Games, Leadership Style Assessment, Negotiation Skills Training, Negotiation StylesNo Comments

Yesterday, Diana Durek and HRDQ-U hosted a free webinar entitled, Increasing Your Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace and Beyond. Durek is a leadership development specialist with an emphasis on emotional intelligence and personal change. She spent 11 years with a leading, global psychological test publisher. There, she worked with clients as diverse as the U.S. Air Force, American Express, and Air Canada, building evidence-based models for predicting individual and organizational performance.

Over 780 people registered for this interactive and informative webinar. You may click here to watch it now and find out why one attendee said, “I’ve attended several of your webinars. This webinar is the BEST one you delivered! You engaged your audience through a virtual method. That is not easy. THANK YOU again for a delivering a GREAT webinar.” 

Emotional intelligence is the ability to comprehend your emotions and to manage them effectively. It helps you say the right thing and accurately judge how the other person is reacting. It encompasses self-awareness (knowing what you are feeling when you are feeling it) as well as self-regulation (using your emotions to serve you, not get in the way). It also involves motivation (delaying gratification to pursue important goals), empathy (sensing what others are feeling) and social skills (interacting with others comfortably, cooperating, negotiating, persuading, leading).

The key topics for the webinar were the following:

  • Adaptability
  • Resilience
  • Personal Change

We are always processing information at an emotional level. It’s impossible not to, although it often causes many problems.

Emotional Intelligence plays a large role in the workplace and beyond. Did you know that once you see something one way, it is very hard to switch gears and see it another way?

^4A5CA1B4E71CC68C27940138808FD5C6506494D796D120BE13^pimgpsh_fullsize_distrEllen Langer, Ph.D., is a social psychologist and the first female professor to gain tenure in the Psychology Department at Harvard University. Langer has been described as the “mother of mindfulness” and has written extensively on the illusion of control, mindful aging, stress, decision-making, and health.  Take some time to look into her work to understand her views on mindfulness.

Personal bias tend to color the world that we see. Some components of personal bias are:

  • Confirmation: seek information to prove, not disprove
  • Selective perception: focus on individual attributes
  • Stereotype: rigid, biased perception
  • Halo Effect: overrate an individual based on a single trait
  • Projection: attribute one’s own thoughts, feelings, attitudes or traits to others

When asked the question, “When you graduated from college, what did you attribute your success to?”, the replies came in fast and steady! They ranged from hard work to proper planning to luck to strong work ethic to persistence. Some of the replies were family support, good mentors, religion and self-motivation. The audience was split – many focused on their own abilities and many others focused on external circumstances.

Next up was Martin Seligman’s Concept of Permanence, Pervasiveness and Personalization. This concept has both Optimistic and Pessimistic explanations, much like the replies to the question above. There are standard replies for when something good happens and also when something bad happens.

Much of the webinar was centered on activities. Take some time to watch it and play along. There are pictures to decipher, magic games to play and more!

Increasing Your Emotional Intelligence is on sale for a limited time. This program is part of the Reproducible Training Library, a full suite of unlimited-use content that’s downloadable, customizable, and reproducible. Easy to edit in both Microsoft Word and PowerPoint files, this training solution is an affordable, one-time purchase and yours to reproduce as needed.

Sign up today to make sure you don’t miss the next free webinar!

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